Critical young consumers: What types of porn do teens watch,and why?

Abstract

Pornography use by teens is of growing concern to parents and communities. There is, however, often little differentiation made between the types of contents being consumed or exploration of the types of pornography teens are watching and why. This paper interrogates data collected from 49 qualitative interviews, including 19 follow-up interviews and 4× focus groups with teens. This paper explores teens’ perspectives on the types of pornography accessed by themselves and their peers, and popular categories of pornography more widely. Teens appear to view various types and genres of pornography, as do adults. Some teens prefer ‘ethical’ sources of porn, that depict female and/or mutual pleasure and offer diverse representation. Additionally, teens argue that pornography serves as a useful source of sexual information that parents and schools do not provide. This research aims to foreground the perceptions and experiences of teens, recognising that they have nuanced responses to pornography.

Introduction

As adult stakeholders, including policymakers, educators and parents, grapple with policy responses to reduce the perceived harms of pornography (porn), more research is needed to explore teenagers’ (teens’) actual experiences with porn. Research into teens’ perspectives and experiences with porn is critical to inform educative and protective approaches. This paper draws on data from the Australian Research Council-funded Discovery Project DP190102435 ‘Adolescents - perceptions of harm from accessing online sexual content’, which aimed to obtain teens’ perspectives on digital sexual content, including porn. While this project focuses on perceptions and experiences of harm, information about the nature (or type) of porn viewed by teens emerged organically as an interesting, and important by-product.

Definitions of porn can differ across cultures (Chronaki et al., 2025), but there is no standard or universal understanding of porn. Some forms of imagery such as lingerie advertisements, nude erotic art or ‘raunchy’ music videos may be considered as ‘pornographic’ for some (Flood and Hamilton, 2003). In this paper, acknowledging that sexual content is available across a range of media, ‘pornography’ refers to consensually made explicit content designed to arouse the viewer (Ashton et al., 2019; McKee et al., 2020). When attempting to capture teens’ experiences of such content, however, scholars argue that there is little evidence about what kinds, genres or types of porn adolescents are consuming (Owens et al., 2012, Peter and Valkenburg, 2016, Quadara et al., 2017). This paper offers some nominal data on self-reported types of porn teens say they are watching, as well as their observations about the types of porn they believe are popular among their peers (and adults). Teens offer their views and critique some of these types and categories of porn, indicating that they are critical consumers of porn. The term type(s) is used in this paper to refer to the dominant themes or narratives featured in pornographic content, while categories is used to refer to the genres of porn often used by pornographic websites, as explored by Hald and Štulhofer (2015). Although these terms are not strictly interchangeable, at times they do overlap in meaning.

Pausing to reflect on the reasons teens say they access different types of porn can provide valuable insights for regulators and other adults. Vannier et al. (2014) suggest that we know little about the content people watch, making it difficult to understand the nuances of how porn may impact experiences and perspectives. Providing data on the types of porn teens are viewing, and their existing knowledge and thoughts on these types of porn, can contribute to policy debate and inform curriculum and resource development. In particular, such data can demonstrate a need for porn literacy, which is an educative approach that focusses on developing critical appraisal skills for consuming pornographic content (Byron et al., 2021; Healy-Cullen et al., 2023). There is limited literature about best practice porn literacy education and how this should be implemented, particularly as it relates to teens (Dawson et al., 2019). Therefore, further research exploring teen perspectives and experiences with and of various types of porn is vital.

Background

Existing research has identified a significant gap in knowledge about the different types of pornographic content teens may be watching (Crabbe et al., 2024; Peter and Valkenburg, 2016; Raine et al., 2020). Previous literature explores a range of possible correlational effects associated with porn; however, porn is often broadly or ill-defined (McKee et al., 2022). Studies often do not account for different types of content, where porn is frequently grouped together. There is often little differentiation within public discourse between different types of porn being viewed or the nuances of such content (Ballester-Arnal et al., 2023). Studies exploring the types of porn being viewed have predominantly been conducted with adults (Hald and Štulhofer, 2015). This possibly reflects the ethical and legal complexities of asking underage people about their porn habits. Yet, Ballester-Arnal and colleagues (2023) argue that effects-based findings with adult populations can be problematic when generalising findings for alternate populations (including young people). Since adolescents are considered particularly vulnerable to porn, it is especially important to explore their perspectives, the types of porn they’re viewing, and perceived impacts (Owens et al., 2012; Quadara et al., 2017).

Most existing research focusses on identifying aggressive behaviours in pornographic content. One content analysis found 45% of a selection of Pornhub scenes and 35% of Xvideos scenes contained at least one act of physical aggression (such as spanking, gagging, slapping, hair pulling and choking) (Fritz et al., 2020). However, scholars argue (McKee et al., 2020; Seida and Shor, 2021) that insufficient consideration has been given to differentiating context or consensual content, with porn often being characterised universally as aggressive without nuanced analysis. Scholars have also considered methods of categorising and tagging porn. For instance, a quantitative analysis of online porn found that 5% of content tags covered 90% of available material, indicating that content may standardised or broadly categorised (Mazières et al., 2014). Mazières and colleagues (2014) also found that one porn site was found to have over 70,000 tags to help users locate novel or unusual content, indicating there is an extensive range of tastes and desires catered for via diverse pornographic content.

Additional research explores behavioural patterns of porn use and its potential impacts across genders (Czajeczny et al., 2023; Miller et al., 2019). These studies show how consumption patterns vary and the different ways porn may influence attitudes and behaviours among different populations. Yet, studies exploring preferences and perspectives towards different types of porn among both adults and young people are scarce. In a notable exception, Hald and Štulhofer (2015) conducted a self-reported quantitative survey exploring the types of porn used by 18–40 year old Croatian adults. Findings indicated that patterns of consumption differed across gender and sexual orientation. In their study, heterosexual females were drawn to a range of porn including content that features group sex (gang bangs), while heterosexual men reported a range of preferences including Lolita/teen porn and mature/MILF content (Hald and Štulhofer, 2015). This is relevant given teens in this study discussed the implications of the widespread popularity of ‘teen’/‘barely legal’ porn. Interviewing 16–18 year-old, low-income Black or Hispanic youth in Boston, Rothman and colleagues (2015) note that teens self-reported watching content that includes heterosexual sex and lesbian porn; however, they also watched porn featuring rape and incest. This study was guided by the sexual script theory to suggest sexual behaviour is impacted by social influences, including porn which may guide the internalisation of norms about sex (Rothman et al., 2015). Scholars note how teens are widely positioned as ‘innocent’ and ‘in need of protection’ from porn and its purported harms (Chronaki et al., 2025). This widespread portrayal of teens as innocent aligns with dominant cultural narratives about sexuality which reinforce certain roles, norms and boundaries, and may indicate a general acceptance of ‘sexual scripts’. However, it is unclear whether these explorations consider how much or how capable teens are of critiquing the content they consume. This paper offers data about the types of porn Australian teens say they and their peers watch, while highlighting their nuanced perspectives on the types of content being viewed. Informed by the sexual citizenship theory as a critical framework which recognises young people's autonomy and the rights young people have to sexual self-expression and to seek sexual information (Plummer, 2003; Richardson, 2012), this paper seeks to inform future research, and educative and policy responses.

Methodology

Qualitative data allows researchers to interrogate the ‘why’ of people's actions and attitudes, and the meanings respondents assign to what they do, offering nuanced responses to complex issues (Trent and Cho, 2020). This study collected qualitative data from 49 one-on-one interviews with 30 teenagers (aged 11–17) based in Boorloo/Perth (Western Australia), with 19 teens returning for a second interview approximately one year later. The interview sample consisted of 15× males, 13× females and 2× non-binary participants. Four participants identified as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander and three participants were of south-Asian descent. The majority were middle-class white Australian.

Interviews were primarily conducted face-to-face at the homes of participants. Parental consent was obtained prior to approaching teens for their consent to participate as per ethical approval. This data was drawn from a project that also interviewed parents (See et al., 2025), however only teen data is explored here. A total of 24 families participated, with parents interviewed concurrently but separately to their child(ren) in the first round of interviews. Further, although the term teen is used in this research, ethics approval was granted to speak to a number of pre-teens (aged 11–12), as well as adolescents aged 13–17. Pseudonyms have been used to protect the identity of participants.

This paper also draws on data from 4 mixed-gender focus groups with teens: FG1 (aged 14–16), FG2 (aged 12–16), FG3 (14–16) and FG4 (aged 12–16), totalling 18 participants in all. FG3 (14–16) was a mixed-gendered focus group but featured female-identifying participants. The focus group featured two females, with one participant additionally identifying as genderfluid. Focus groups allowed for the emergence of a range of findings and included two participants from the original interview data. Focus groups were chosen to allow participants to engage in collective conversation where views can be immediately challenged or agreed with by other participants (Sim and Waterfield, 2019). The focus groups allowed further exploration of themes identified in the interviews.

Participants were recruited via their parents through social media, including Facebook community groups and Twitter (X). The focus group recruitment strategy included paid Facebook social media advertising and some purposive sampling via sexual health and youth organisations. These participants came from a range of educational backgrounds including public, private (religious or secular) and home-based schooling. Focus group participants presented with diverse gender and sexual identities (trans, genderfluid, asexual, pansexual, bi-sexual, gay and queer). It is possible these teens and their families were particularly motivated to volunteer for the research, potentially indicating selection bias in this phase.

All interview and focus group data was transcribed verbatim by a specialist transcriber bound by a non-disclosure agreement. Transcripts were de-identified before coding in NVivo. Reflexive thematic analysis (Braun and Clarke, 2021) was used to identify eight key themes. Social constructionism (Burr, 2015) was used to interpret data, with particular attention paid to how participants understand their experiences and their meaning-making in the context of everyday life. Interviews were semi-structured and allowed additional topics to emerge when raised by participants. Teens were sometimes asked about, or volunteered, the types of porn they or their peers were viewing, and why. It is important to acknowledge that they were not always asked to define genres or the terms used, such as ‘hardcore’ or ‘ethical’ porn, as this was not an initial focus of the research.

Given the potentially sensitive subject matter, teens were initially asked about the experiences or perceptions of ‘friends and peers’ who consumed online sexual content as a surrogate for talking about themselves, offering a layer of anonymity. The opportunity to frame their own experiences this way, or to share peers’ experiences, allowed participants to explore wider societal impacts and provided a way to distance themselves from the material when discussing sensitive topics. For example, questions were sometimes phrased as ‘What kinds of porn do you think teens your age are watching?’ In some cases, teens chose to answer in relation to their own viewing habits; in other cases, they commented on what they considered to be popular porn categories watched by friends, peers or the broader community.

The first author, a cis-gendered female, conducted the majority of the interviews with teens. Teens were advised that the researcher was a trained sexologist, that nothing they could say was likely to ‘shock’ her, and that the researcher had likely ‘heard it all’. Participants were invited to be open, honest and to share as much as they felt comfortable in sharing. These instructions were intended to encourage openness and invite participants to participate in a safe and non-judgemental environment. In order to facilitate an environment in which adolescents felt comfortable articulating a range of views, the research design deliberately avoided the use of leading questions, loaded language (See and Woodley, 2024) and the disclosure of researcher viewpoints, thereby minimising potential influence on participant responses. While the inclusion of a trained (female) sexologist raises the risk of inviting a level of performativity from participants, introductory discussions focused on building trust and rapport between interviewer and interviewee. Care was taken to foster openness, honesty and comfort when discussing sexual topics. This was a deliberate approach, as sensitive research, particularly sexuality research with young people, can encode power imbalances and cause participant discomfort (Staksrud et al., 2025). While power imbalances are implicit in interviewer/interviewee exchanges, strategies that build a non-judgemental environment, where the participants are made to feel safe, help mitigate their impact. Teens were also advised they could skip questions if they ever felt uncomfortable and they could withdraw from the interview at any time.

Results

Types of porn viewed by teens

While no consensus was reached by participants regarding what types of porn were most popular among teens, participants acknowledge that preferences could vary between teens, as they do with adults. Miles (17, Male, second interview) shares:

I think a lot of it [is] each to each one's own. We’re all different people, we all have different interests and it's no different for school-age children. We’re all unique, we all have different things that we might like or might not like. I personally don’t see that there's one, or a set of, standards that conform to [the preferences of] a high percentage of the population base.

Some teens reiterated Mile's assertion. For instance, David (Preteen, Male) lists the different types of porn he believes to be available, tailored to a range of preferences via ‘different categories’, such as:

black men, white man, big titties, small titties, schoolgirls, teenage girls, teenage boys, amateur, mature, hardcore: ones like that.

David is already aware and acquainted with of some of the categories and types of porn available. David's comments indicate a degree of proto-porn literacy, in terms of being aware of an array of genres and conventions (Byron et al., 2021), in distinct detail for his age.

Seraphina (Preteen, Female) says some of her peers view ‘hentai’ including some who ‘come across it by accident’. Hentai refers to content that features anime characters in erotic scenarios (Park et al., 2022). Some teens interviewed view the erotic use of anime as peculiar, but consider hentai as possibly less ‘risky’ or ‘harmful’ compared to other types of porn. Seraphina's view is that: ‘Even just something not even harmful, like, anime type of stuff […] can still be a bit freaky’.

Some teens say their peers consume mainstream porn. When asked whether there were any concerns if mainstream porn was consumed and/or used as a source of information, Hunter (16, Male, second interview) answers: ‘Well, it depends on what “mainstream” is. Depends on what they think mainstream porn is’. Hunter indicates that what one person defines as ‘mainstream’ porn depends on the individual and may vary from person-to-person. He continues: ‘I mean, like, the stuff in the recommended [feeds] could be harmful, but just depends on what they’re looking at as well’. Hunter suggests the recommended videos which appear to encourage additional viewing when someone is watching porn may be algorithmically designed to promote certain content. He suggests that the depiction of specific acts may be harmful for some, depending on the content and the person watching, rather than branding all mainstream porn as harmful. These points are particularly pertinent given public discourse often positions mainstream porn as aggressive; however teens appear to hold mixed views on whether this is the case, indicating that even ‘mainstream’ porn can include a diverse range of content.

Their own porn habits illustrate nuance, with many teens engaging with porn that depicts female/mutual pleasure and wanting romantic or intimate depictions of sex as explored in this paper and previous work.

Teens’ reflections suggest that the porn they access offers a range of options, with variations in genders, age, ethnicity, kinks and body type to suit personal preferences. At the same time, four types of porn were raised more often than others: step fantasy, hardcore, ‘barely legal’ and ‘ethical porn’. These will be considered in turn.

Step fantasy

When responding to what types of porn may be popular among their peers, some teens shared:

That weird genre that always pops up being like the step, stepmothers, stepdaughter sort of thing. – Nicola (15, Female)

I know boys watch a lot of step things, like, stepsister, stepmum, things like that, ‘cause they just speak about it in class – Sienna (14, Female, second interview)

In both the focus group and interviews, ‘step fantasy’ (also known as ‘step incest’, ‘step porn’ ‘incest porn’ or ‘fauxcest’) was identified as a popular category of porn that depicts fictionalised incestuous relationships between stepfamily members. Teens suggest this category is well received by teens and speculated it is also popular among adults. Some teens present step fantasy as particularly ‘weird’, however, while suggesting that peers may focus on the activities portrayed rather than the content tag. Nicola (15) says:

But people [teens] I know who have said [they] have watched it, they just ignore the title that says that. They’re not looking at it and going ‘oh my god, that's my stepmother or something’. They’re just, like, “yeah, the porn was good, I just ignore the title ‘cause they don’t say it in the video”.

Nicola explains that teens may disregard overarching narratives and indeed any moral implications associated with step porn. While the viewing of such content may warrant concern, participants overwhelmingly assert they can discern fantasy from reality in porn. Nathan (13, Male) shares, ‘I know what stuff's real and how stuff's supposed to be’, and David (preteen) felt, ‘As much as I watch it, I don’t want to do it in real life’, indicating that teens do not always want to replicate what they view. Despite this, teens suggest that step fantasy is considered a regular or common type of porn consumed. Kelvin (13, Male, second interview) says: ‘Those are just normal porn’. He also acknowledges that he understands such content is likely fabricated; performed by actors who are not related: ‘you know that a person, that a girl, whatever, isn’t a stepsister or stepbrother […] They are most likely actors’. Similarly, a focus group of female-identifying teens indicate that teen viewers might nonetheless speculate about relationships between actors:

FG3.1: The most popular porn category in the world is stepfamily and stuff like that, so it can cause a lot of, like, well I saw this online so it's normal.

FG3.3: Like stepbrother, stepsister, stepfather, stepmother. It's like incest, but technically not.

FG3.1: Yeah, it's always actors pretending but, it's like, you know, like –

FG3.2: It's like regardless, if they’re actors or not, they’re still promoting this.

FG3.1: Just because you can’t actually post real incest, or say that they’re playing, it's like ‘real’. Even if they were actors, they’re not allowed to say that they’re actually ‘in universe brother and sister’, they have to say that they’re nonrelated, but related.

Despite believing that incestuous acts may not be the allure, teens suggest that step fantasy porn potentially promotes taboo acts. When asked why they believe step fantasy porn is so popular, teens responded:

‘I have no clue, it's really weird. I don’t know why’. – Nicola (15)

Personally, I think it's popular because of mainly perverts and stuff like that. I could not see how there is a reasonable way to excuse the fact that – but it's ‘technically legal’. There shouldn’t be a technically in front of it. Like, it should just be legal. It shouldn’t ‘technically be legal’, you know what I mean? – FG1.2 (Mixed-gender focus group 14–16)

Teens emphasise the potentially perverted nature of inter-family sexual relationships depicted in the step fantasy category. Their perspectives indicate a nascent porn literacy, acknowledging that porn, including porn that depicts incestuous relations, is fantasy performed by unrelated actors and not representative of reality. They also demonstrate an understanding that the double-taboo (incest/intergenerational) popularity of such content is likely algorithmically driven, given they are directed to popular porn (via recommended videos) on porn sites.

Hardcore porn

One teen identifies ‘hardcore porn’ as their preferred category. David (Preteen) who first accessed porn in early childhood shares that he first turned to pornography out of curiosity: ‘I was curious, I wanted to know what it was’. However, ‘I found [it] a bit rough’, but ‘usually the ones that I most enjoyed was hardcore’. When asked what differentiates hardcore from other porn, David replies:

I think hardcore's the worst of them mainly because (I know I loved it) but -I had a look at the two different types of porn as in amateur and hardcore. With hardcore there was anal porn. In amateur there usually wasn’t. In hardcore you could see it more clearly and it was … closer up, where [as] with amateur it wasn’t showing their whole entire body off, it was just showing different things at different points.

David seems to equate hardcore porn with featuring anal sex and using point of view (POV) camera techniques for close and intimate detail. He also seems to separate porn into two types, amateur versus hardcore, a stylistic point of view. David also comments that he increasingly seeks hardcore over ‘normal sex’:

I searched up normal sex and then it just came up with two people getting into bed, t-shirts on but with their shorts and skirt or trousers and jeans off and then they went undercover and just had sex. Then I realised that was how it was supposed to be and then I become more in love with porn, because it was exciting, I would say.

David discusses his experiences of discovering hardcore porn (defined by him as involving anal sex, or POV) with mixed feelings, finding it both exciting and shocking. David's experience may also speak to desensitisation and normalisation processes whereby he suggests that he may look for increasingly extreme content over time. This perspective was also shared by other teens, such as Miles (17, second interview) when discussing his encounters with softcore vs hardcore porn:

You become interested in other things and what before was really exciting and riveting is now just sucking on a penis and then it goes forwards and forwards. Which is, I think, the one main issue that I have with pornography, which is it desensitises you and it gives you an expectation of your partner because this is all you’ve been watching, and then it's all that you can actually get aroused to, this hardcore, very dark porn that you’ve just been watching.

Miles worries that watching porn can desensitise individuals and potentially cause problems in sexual relationships, where porn users are unable to be aroused without the visual cues they have become accustomed to. However, like other teens interviewed, Miles also discussed the ability to self-regulate and monitor his own usage. In his first interview, Miles (16) recognises his limits, and judges that some content may be too extreme: ‘Definitely, yeah. I’ve gone “oh shit, that's too dark”. Stuff like blood play or weird piercing kinks or stuff like that. No’. Most teens illustrate this restraint and resilience, reporting an ability to monitor and regulate their own porn viewing.

Some teens worry that watching porn could inadvertently harm viewers by influencing them to replicate the sex acts viewed. Other participants are confident that peers are aware hardcore porn is a performance. Paul (14, Male) cautions:

You probably have to also keep in mind if you are looking at that sort of stuff, that it's staged or fake or whatever and that that's not realistic necessarily.

Barely legal porn

Teens note ‘barely legal’ content depicting apparently pubescent girls as being another popular type of porn, both for teens and older audiences. Focus group participants discussed how ‘barely legal’ porn made them feel uncomfortable, as the actors were seemingly like themselves:

FG3.1: Also another really popular porn category is barely legal, just turned 18, stuff like that.

FG1.4: A lot of it, with porn at least that I’ve seen, is childlike, it's very uncomfortable.

Teens from a mixed gendered focus group stated this content made them feel ‘weird’, with FG1.5 noting: ‘Cause people before puberty, they don’t have body [hair] and that's just really weird, for adults to mimic a young child’. FG1.2 expressed negative feelings about her age group being viewed sexually by others without inviting such attention: ‘I don’t feel great knowing that people are sexualising me [when] I haven’t done anything ′cause it makes me feel a bit uncomfortable′. She indicates that the popularisation of ‘barely legal’ porn, by extension, implicitly sexualises her, and other girls her age.

‘Barely legal’ porn was also raised in a focus group of female-identifying participants. Teens chose to situate their observations within a broader societal context, where they felt women may be viewed as more sexually attractive in their younger years. FG3.1 notes ‘the stigmatisation of ageing, especially in women, it's weird as well’. Another teen (FG3.2) believes these views may link to those promoted by sexist influencers from the manosphere:

I think that might be slightly linked to [..] Andrew Tate where he mentioned that – [..] it's better if women are just younger, if they’re virgins, ‘cause it's fresher.

These teens are well aware of tropes of immaturity in porn, such as hairlessness, which they suggest is unrealistic. As FG1.5 argues:

Like, the hairlessness, that is a big one. Like when you go into home pages of porn, it's just like hairless women, nothing there, and that's quite unrealistic in my opinion.

FG1.3 reflects on how these standards impact her own behaviours in feeling compelled to adopt the beauty standard portrayed in porn (as well as via broader social media depictions). Some teens suggest that even they felt they need to conform to a youthful prepubescent aesthetic:

FG1.3 My gosh, I have to shave all the time and I literally hate it, so I just wear my trackies ‘cause I can’t be fucked.

FG1.4 questions the strangeness and widespread acceptance of pornifying teenage girls:

FG1.4: cause obviously unrealistic standards, caters to older men who are into younger women because a lot of the women in porn look very young like a lot of the titles are like ‘oh barely legal, teen, schoolgirl’. Obviously, I hope they’re adults, like, over 18.

These comments indicate that teens critique porn, the social constructions of what it depicts and the way it sometimes makes them feel. In this case, female and gender-diverse teens feel a sense of discomfort around the eroticisation of young girls.

‘Ethical’ porn and Queer porn: Using porn to learn about sex

Teens argue porn can help users explore sexual identities and preferences. Both cis-gendered and LGBTQA + teens interviewed acknowledge the value of queer porn, which offers diverse representation and an opportunity to explore their sexuality. For instance, Tiffany (15, Female) suggests: ‘It can help you figure out what you may like, or not like, your preferences. Your like, sexualities’. Teens like Nicola believe any unwanted effects of porn are lessened if healthy depictions of sex are used, and if a more inclusive audience is catered for. Other focus group participants endorse this observation:

FG1.3 Say if you’re straight but you don’t know if you like girls and then you’re watching lesbian porn or if you’re watching gay porn that can help you realise what you like and don’t like.

I: That's true.

FG1.3: As long as it's ethically –

FG1.1: Yeah.

(mixed-gender focus group, aged 14–16)

Teens suggest that ethically produced porn, depicting mutual pleasure, care, safe sex and diverse representation, can help balance the dominant porn discourse. In suggesting this, teens argue that key conditions in which porn is produced should align with ethical production parameters, including informed consent and appropriate pay for workers. Nicola (17), in her second interview, discusses how properly regulated, ethically produced porn may be a beneficial way to learn about sex:

If you do it in a safer or more ethical [way] it can help you explore things like fantasies or desires […] give ideas for things to do when you have sex, if you have sex. Obviously helps with masturbation and things if you’re wanting to do that […] ‘cause obviously people want to watch it for pleasure.

When discussing accessing porn for sexual exploration, teens argue that any perceived unwanted impacts of porn are reduced or removed when the porn they consume is ‘ethical’ However, teens identify that healthier depictions of sex are difficult to locate, complaining that mainstream porn tends to lack romantic and loving depictions of sex. Yet, some teens find a way to access such content when they want to learn about the specifics of sex. Warren (17, second interview) says:

‘My videos that I watch, I tend to watch stuff […] seeing her get pleasured and positions, that's what I find more interesting and where I gain information’, adding, ‘Learning how to please a girl and stuff… I think you’re pretty good with porn’.

Warren notes how he feels disinclined to approach his parents, or his mother about cunnilingus and female pleasure: ‘Sharing information at school, it gets to a certain point where I don’t want to talk to them [parents] about it, so that's where porn fills in the gap […]’. These reflections indicate that porn may fill a gap that schools and homes do not (and potentially feel they cannot) discuss. There appeared to be a disinclination to approach parents and educators about these topics, and indeed to discuss porn itself: ‘I know that I could go to my parents, but I just feel awkward going to them about that sort of stuff. Like, it's just [going] to be weird’. – Tiffany (Female, 13).

Teens argue that discussion around the specifics of sex, and any acknowledgement that sexual activity is pleasurable, is missing from the relevant conversations at home and at school. Yet, they identify such information as vital: ‘Yeah, I’d say there probably is a gap there and I reckon it should be fixed for sex ed’. (Lauren, Female, 14, second interview)

Max (non-binary, preteen) agrees that porn can have educational benefits: ‘I can understand more about what “it” [sex] is’. Some teens appear to recognise the benefit of porn as a more direct form of education, offering actual representations of sex and of bodies. As such, teens question why pornography consumption and sexual activity is sometimes seen as a taboo. Lauren (13) says: ‘I don’t think it's bad that people just have sex for the benefits of having sex, or just purely for having pleasure or anything’, noting that sex should not be positioned as something shameful.

Porn literacy, watching for pleasure and educational sexual content

Teens intuited what types of porn was intended for which audiences and considered the production dynamics of commercially produced porn. For example, female and gender-diverse participants note how most commercial porn is not produced for the female gaze, predominantly made for and by heterosexual males. Nicola (15) shares:

I’ve looked at it [porn] ‘cause I know lots of people who do, but I don’t know, I feel like it's uncomfortable watching people have sex. Also, most of them, they aren’t really made for me, it's mostly just for men.

She adds: ‘It's not really attractive’. Lauren (14, second interview) speculates this is due to most porn being focused on the female body and designed for the male viewer:

It doesn’t seem very pleasurable and the images that I’ve seen in – it doesn’t look enjoyable, and I think sex is supposed to be enjoyable.

There is some trepidation in Lauren's comment around acknowledging sex as enjoyable, potentially indicating that the porn she sees fails to present sex as mutually pleasurable. Conversely, other teens felt pornography offered them an avenue to learn about pleasure, and engage in pleasurable acts. A participant from a focus group consisting of female identifying teens says:

FG3.1: People have sex for the sole reason of pleasure and people add things to sex for more pleasure and stuff like that. I mean that's why porn exists. Porn is something for pleasure, it's not to [learn how to] reproduce. You don’t watch porn to see how babies are made, that's not how that works.

Teens argue that the use of sex toys, and porn, allows users to engage in fantasy and pleasurable acts:

[Porn can be good for] pleasure, Self-pleasure […] learning what to do. – Caris (15, second interview)

These perspectives from female and genderfluid participants indicate porn offers an avenue for pleasure for all genders, as well as an avenue for learning about the specifics around sexual activities.

However, other teens suggest there are important concerns around using pornography to learn about sex too:

FG2.3: I think especially when it comes to sex, learning about it from a sex education class or from parents is a lot better than learning it from something like porn, because porn doesn’t talk about consent, it doesn’t talk about the process leading up to it because it's just focused on the sexual act where sex is a lot more than just the act, it's everything before, everything after and everything in between. (Mixed-gendered focus group 12–16)

This participant considers that sexual negotiations and important relationship dynamics are often missing from depictions of sexual relations within porn. Such depictions, including loving representations of sex, appear to form content that teens want and feel are missing (or at least difficult to access).

As such, teens discuss the possibility of educational sexual content created for a teenage audience in mind: ‘I mean if someone was really unsure of how everything worked or something, if they watched a really light video that just explained it to them or something, that could be good’. – Heath, 14. Other teens agree:

With the sex age being 16 a lot of people don’t know a lot [about sex] […] – but at this point I’d say, probably, it would be good for under 16 s [accessing porn] just because of the lack of actual education that you get at school about it. – Miles, 16

If you’re trying to teach someone something, or they don’t know how things work, I reckon it would be a good thing to show them and teach them and educate them [on] how it works. – Nathan, 13

Teens assert that visual learning methods can be effective and this is where porn serves as an anonymous and valuable pedagogical tool for some teens:

Talking to other people about [sex], it's pretty awkward, but if I’m just watching it, I learn better. – Warren (17, second interview)

Even if it was just stick figures, or a drawing, really basic drawings of what sex could look like and what pornography could look like, and you could see the difference […] basic stick figures would probably be better if you’re seeing it and you’re younger. – Lauren (14, second interview)

However, participants also interrogated the complexity of such an idea, and argue that if such content were possible, it should be targeted towards older teens, past the age of consent:

I think there should be something that should fill that gap, however what that is and who that is, is a different thing because if you imagine your job being ‘oh I’m a porn star, but I’m a porn star for kids’ [it] could be a bit of a problematic one and yet again could bring in bias […] ‘cause there's no real set standard for everyone. – Miles (17, second interview)

I’d say there most likely somewhere is an educational video of pornography and everything, and an image of what it might be. I mean it would be kind of inappropriate to be showing it at a younger age, but I mean there should be examples of what is porn and different types of porn. – Lauren (14, second interview)

Many young people are curious about sex and relationships and pornography may offer an anonymous source of information about sex, bodies, pleasure, the dynamics of sexual interactions, and visual representations of sexual positions and sexual acts. While Lauren and Miles note the likely controversy involved in using explicit sexual content as a pedagogical tool for young people, Lauren suggests that there is value to discussing porn, and the various types available, in schools. Numerous teens interviewed argue that there is a notable gap in sexual information about the specifics of sex and pleasure, currently being filled by pornography. In an ideal world they would like that information to be provided by a trusted source; include visual representations; be reputable (one teen suggested government funded or endorsed), and be made with older teens in mind.

Discussion and implications

This exploration of teens’ perspectives on various types of porn indicates that the types of porn viewed by young people reflects diversity and individual preference, as it does with adults. While teens identify no one specific preferred type of porn, they suggest that ethical porn, ‘queer porn’ or porn with diverse representation, step-fantasy, hardcore, hentai, ‘barely legal’ porn and content depicting mutual or female pleasure are types of porn enjoyed by their peers and adults. However, participants varied in how they defined these types and categories of porn. Teens also explored reasons why they and their peers may watch pornography, for instance, some teens first turned to pornography due to being curious. Using porn for pleasure, and learning about sex, appeared to be the most common reasons teens give for consuming pornography. Some participants feel viewing porn can have concerning implications for young people. Teens also argue that any unwanted impacts of porn could potentially be reduced if content is ethically sourced and produced. They are concerned that porn companies do not follow frameworks for ethical production; nor do they ensure equitable labour conditions for the porn they produce.

Critical consumption

Teens display a capacity for critical analysis and a nascent porn literacy, including identifying target markets for commercial porn. They note how the industry influences and reflects the preferences of the market (such as the promotion of step fantasy). Existing research suggests that users of porn websites are often directed towards recommended videos, with algorithms reflecting and categorising the content deemed of interest to viewers (Byron et al., 2021; Carrotte et al., 2020; Hald and Štulhofer, 2015). While teens discuss a range of popular types of porn, they demonstrate critical awareness of being shown certain types of content over others.

Teens’ belief that step family porn is popular coincides with existing research (Rothman et al., 2015). Indeed, within the 100 most viewed videos on Pornhub, 4.1 billion views were for step-incest videos as opposed to 3.3 billion views for all other videos combined, as at January 2024 (Lefebvre, 2024). Teens also recognise that they are often directed to content such as ‘step fantasy’, however, such titles are often ignored by themselves or their peers, particularly when incestuous themes are not present in the content itself. These assertions may indicate that at times, only the title and description given (i.e. step-family fantasy) are present, possibly as a marketing strategy, where the content itself may not display particularly incestuous themes. Additionally, while types and/or categories of porn may be present within the title and description of sexual content, the same scene may be represented in different ways across different websites (e.g. as step fantasy on one website as opposed to a different narrative on another). Such actions are likely enacted to cater to and capture different audiences. While teens are unsure about why step fantasy porn is popular, some suggest that viewers are drawn to the perversion of such content. Indeed, the appeal and subsequent moral transgression of depictions of incest may be based on the taboo of the violation of family ties (Morczek, 2018; Stella, 2020). Depicting incestuous acts could be considered a part of Consensual Non-Consensual (CNC) kinks where scenarios that cannot usually be consented to, are consented to (or appear to be consented to). Such acts and depictions are eroticised due to their taboo and disallowed nature (for instance ‘rape porn’, underage or family dynamic).

Female and LGBTQA +  participants found ‘barely legal’ porn particularly uncomfortable due to the sexualisation of their demographic and the eroticisation of a pre-pubescent state (hairlessness). When discussing the popularity of ‘barely legal’ porn, teens display the ability to analyse the intended audience, and the desires being catered to. Female and gender-diverse participants’ assertions that mainstream porn is predominantly produced by and marketed to men, centring male pleasure, is also supported by existing research (Ashton et al., 2019; Flood, 2016; Fritz et al., 2020).

One teen noted that they accessed and preferred ‘hardcore’ porn, and others suggested this type of content may be used among their peers, though they differed in their definitions of such content. Further studies are needed to understand prevalence, including teen-led definitions of various categories of porn, such as ‘hardcore’. Some young participants were engaged in counselling services for their porn use. Despite viewing such content, teens appeared to be able to separate porn from reality and acknowledge it as fantasy. This is important given that previous research suggests that when viewers perceive porn as more realistic, they are more likely to assume that this is how people have ‘real sex’ (Gunnoo and Powell, 2023). This is further supported by a national US survey, where 52% of participants disagreed with the statement ‘sex shown in online porn accurately shows the way most people have sex’, as opposed to 27% who agreed (Robb and Mann, 2023). Teens’ willingness to distinguish reality from fantasy suggests critical analysis skills.

These same participants also seemed to hold balanced views around gender equality. A study with female adults in Finland, for example, found that even women who consider themselves passionate feminists say they enjoy aggressive porn that depicts the degradation of women and even scenes depicting rape (Paasonen, 2021). These preferences demonstrate a disconnect between what people enjoy viewing and the sex they want for themselves. Indeed, the relationship between aggressive pornographic content and real-world behaviours remains complex and contested within the literature. For instance, a meta-analysis suggests that viewing violent porn is weakly correlated with sexual aggression (Ferguson and Hartley, 2009, 2020; McKee et al., 2020). Ferguson and Harley (2009) found in some cases that viewing porn may even reduce sexual aggression for some consumers. Some participants suggested the potential of a desensitisation process occurring whereby users need more exaggerated content over time. Conversely, teens assert that they also want more romantic and intimate depictions of sex in porn. These findings indicate that teen preferences vary, where some teens chose not to view pornography, others had considerable knowledge of pornography and its various categories.

Education and regulation

Australia is currently grappling with the implications of age-verification technologies, and the Australian government has committed $6.5 million towards age-verification and age assurance technology pilots (Lowrey, 2024). However, existing evidence suggests that restricting access to porn has been shown to be problematic and complicated (Stardust et al., 2024; Thurman and Obster, 2021; Yar, 2020). While Australian teens generally support regulation for younger children to reduce unintended encounters with online porn, they report wanting agency over their own engagement with porn (eSafety Commissioner, 2023). Teens in this project, and in broader research, believe education is the most effective response to any unwanted effects of consuming content created for adults (eSafety Commissioner, 2023; Lim et al., 2020).

Importantly, teens in this study suggest that certain types of porn operate as a source of sexual information for some young people given that sex ‘itself’ is not discussed by educators at school (Woodley, 2023), and such content may be uncomfortable to discuss at home with parents. Teens shared how some questions and topics are considered inappropriate or unsuitable, especially where these relate to more explicit matters (such as sexual pleasure and sexual positions). Indeed, an Australian national survey of secondary students records that 27.1% (n = 1544) of participants viewed porn to learn how to give pleasure to others and 28.0% (n = 1596) viewed it to learn about sexual practices (Power et al., 2022). Teens argue that this type of content is more comfortably accessed online rather than seeking information from parents or in school. Techniques for giving pleasure appear to have greater value for LGBTQA +  and curious teens looking to explore their preferences and identities. These teens report not seeing themselves represented in existing curricula, as indicated both in this study and in previous research (Flory and Shor, 2025; McKee et al., 2020). As such, restrictive measures that limit access to sexual information should take care to not disproportionately impact diverse groups.

Teens’ comments indicate the importance of education to help them critique and personally reflect on the sexual media they consume. Including pornography education within media literacy, or as part of a wider digital sexual literacy within school-based programs and curriculums, may better prepare teens for the sexual content online which they are likely to encounter (Power et al., 2024; Yar, 2020). Pornography education could include identifying consent (Woodley et al., 2024), exploring pleasure and how depictions of bodies and sex may differ between porn and real life (Dawson et al., 2019). Some initiatives report positive outcomes in the US and Australia (Davis et al., 2020; Rothman et al., 2018). However, existing approaches are often based on the premise that stylised sex depicted in porn is unrealistic and ultimately unhealthy (Byron et al., 2021), which teens in this research say they know already, meaning effective porn literacy programs should go beyond such messages. Nuanced discussions, alongside balanced information about sex, could help teens explore positive aspects of sexuality. Some teens asked for ‘educational sexual content’ created with teens in mind. However, others explored how wider society would view this as complex and problematic.

Pending such developments, fit for purpose sexuality education with visual components could acknowledge the importance of mutual pleasure and desire as core features of consensual, ethical sexual experiences. Such an endeavour acknowledges that young people have rights and are sexual citizens deserving of sexual information (including pleasurable sexual experiences). Younger teens may benefit from a general media literacy education and developmentally appropriate information about porn and sex, to help prepare teens for what they may see online (Dawson et al., 2019; Lim et al., 2020). Scaffolding of explicit explorations of sex, pleasure and porn literacy skills could be developed for older teens.

The researchers do not advocate for the consumption of porn by teens. However, given the high access rates, and teens’ belief they will find a way around age restrictions (eSafety Commissioner, 2023), ‘pornography education’ (also known as porn literacy) co-created with young people could be an effective harm mitigation strategy. An ideal pornography education can foster a balanced and non-judgemental approach that does not stigmatise porn, nor simply deem all porn as ‘unrealistic’ (Byron et al., 2021; Rothman et al., 2015). Such an approach could equip young people to develop their own critical response towards the depictions of sex in porn. Porn education within homes and school environments (Healy-Cullen et al., 2022; Zen et al., 2024) as part of a larger scope of relationships and sexuality skills would help teens to actively avoid content they might find challenging. Indeed, it may help teens to be invited to critically reflect on messaging encountered online, helping them assess content in light of their own values and desires.